Central America
- Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, Independent travel, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Wildlife
Biding Our Time
“Wasting my time, resting my mind And I’ll never pine For the sad days and the bad days When we was working from nine to five” Lyrics from “Biding My Time” by Pink Floyd We’re in a bit of what you might call a hiatus. It’s been a strange year, one way and another, with the whole of January at home to deal with a property matter, then our Brazil trip interrupted by the sad news of Michaela’s Dad’s death and our return to England for the funeral. Of course, we then reconvened our trip and enjoyed ten weeks of Brazil, the southern states of the USA and a little…
- Brazil, Central America, Europe, Greece, Independent travel, North America, Photography, South America, Thailand, Travel Blog, USA, Wildlife
Countdown To Rio
It’s that time again. Never mind counting the days, we’re just arriving at the stage where we’ll be counting the hours until we lock the doors behind us and head to Heathrow to start our next great adventure. The exotic, vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro awaits, one of the world’s greatest carnivals about to begin, romantic sounding locations like Copacabana, Ipanema and Corcovado soon to be on our doorstep. It’s a little over a week until the journey begins. After waking up on New Year’s Day many thousands of miles from home in each of the last two years, this feels like a late start for us and the…
- Cape Verde, Central America, Greece, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Panama, Photography, Spain, Travel Blog
Volcanoes And Us
Amazing scenes have been unfolding on the TV screen recently, the Earth itself cracking wide open as bright orange fire laps around buildings and rivers of molten lava surge with unstoppable power through the darkness. This is, of course, the latest eruption in Iceland, the land of fire and ice, captured live and beamed in graphic detail straight to our news channels. Michaela and I have always been fascinated by volcanoes, but then who isn’t? Before we’d even met, Michaela had visited Etna and I’d trudged up the slopes of Vesuvius, and we’d both watched the intriguing sight of bubbling sea water and marvelled at what may be going on…
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Nudity, Numpties & Numbers: Back Home Once Again
A few years back in the Canary Islands, we (or rather Michaela) suffered a moment of extreme embarrassment which you can read about HERE. But wow our last few days in Panama so nearly brought another… The sound of the door closing behind me was the first sign that I’d made something of an error of judgment. Long before going to bed it had started to dawn on me that the draught beer in The American Bazaar in downtown Casco Viejo was considerably stronger than I had realised, not least because the flat paving slabs had somehow become just as difficult to walk on as the cobbles – they just…
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Travel Stories: Pedro And The Strange Bed
- Central America, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Panama, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog
San Blas And The Guna Yala
Surely Daniel Defoe must have seen the San Blas islands before creating Robinson Crusoe. Surely every cartoonist who ever drew a joke picture of a man stranded on a desert island saw some of these places before putting pencil to paper. These islands of various sizes are almost amusing, so like the stereotypical image of a desert island that they are virtually a self parody. The San Blas islands and the neighbouring mainland territory is the preserve and the home of the Guna Yala, indigenous peoples of Central America with very distinctive looks and, for the women, equally distinctive clothing. After decades of poor treatment, modern times have seen the…
- Central America, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Panama, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
The Joy Of The Jungle: Gamboa Delivers
The chunky little bus that takes us on the night safari is called The Night Chiva. Absolutely no prizes then for guessing which Bee Gees song is in our heads as we peer into the darkness hoping to see something incredible. Apart from a pair of jewels which we are assured is the eyes of a caiman staring back at us, and some algae moving because the turtles are stirring below, we see nothing but darkness and the guide’s flashlight. So humming 80s disco music while eating dinner is tonight’s high. But who cares if the brief (and free with room reservation) night trip doesn’t deliver: pretty much everything else…
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Gamboa: Life In The Canal Zone
Drive something like twenty kilometres down a dead end road, deeper and deeper into the rainforest, the Panama Canal to your left, until eventually you reach the waters of the Chagres River. Cross the narrow, low slung bridge over the river….and enter Gamboa. Gamboa is a place with an unusual history which is absolutely tangible as we walk past the mostly empty, odd looking box shaped timber houses, through the sultry, dripping rainforest yet feeling almost as if we’re in a residential street. Jungle sounds are all around, agoutis scurry past our feet and howler monkeys call overhead yet we could just as easily be walking through American military quarters.…
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El Valle: A Town Inside A Volcano
Panama is the 23rd country of the world in which we’ve driven cars and there’s no way we could ever describe it as one of the hardest. Away from the most rural roads which can be a bit sketchy, the highways and even B-roads boast good quality, smooth surfaces and very little traffic compared to home. At times the PanAmerican resembles an empty Scalextric track as it rolls over and around the hillsides. Our next destination, El Valle de Anton, is reputedly the largest settlement in the entire world which is located inside the caldera of a volcano, and as we make our approach on the steeply dropping hairpinned road,…
- Central America, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Panama, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Boca Chica: Sometimes Panama Needs A Mute Switch
It’s Day 47 of this trip when Michaela’s fitbit throws in the towel and responds to each request with a blank screen, then slides from 100% charge to under 10% in less than an hour. Not so interesting, except that this is the fifth fitbit in 3 years to follow this route. When we retired, Michaela decided that a fitbit would be a useful travelling companion, helping to record, in particular, our walking distances. Five have now bit the dust, not one of them lasting twelve months and four of them failing to complete their maiden journey. Every single one has failed whilst abroad. Any ideas what’s going on, anyone?…
- Central America, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Panama, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Zip Wires, Rafting & Hanging Bridges: The Adrenaline Flows In Boquete
The first clue is the bus: this military-looking heavy beast is clearly built to cross difficult terrain, yet there is little clue as to what’s next as we climb the mountain roads through the extensive and orderly coffee plantations. Then, without warning, we are off the road and on to something which would resemble a river bed if it wasn’t for the steep incline – and for over 30 minutes we rock, roll and bang our way up the volcano. This is Finca El Oasis, primarily a coffee farm but these days bringing in extra cash from a zip wire trail, with eight lines heading down Volcan Baru from a…
